I remember that day well enough. The day that everything fell into place for me and I finally discovered myself for what I was: a romantic at heart. I suppose I have always had high expectations for whom I should marry someday, because of course marriage is what I sought after in a partner. A handsome Prince who would sweep me off my feet, kiss my hoof and then whisk me off to a new beginning; far away from the embarrassment and worry I had to endure working in my dress shop all day. I had such high expectations for the pony I would go off with; I was so particular about everything being the exact way I wrote down in my diary when I was merely a filly, and if something were to spoil this image I grew exasperated and annoyed with how my life had turned out.
Once upon a time I did get to meet the charming Prince of my dreams, only to find that he was all I wanted except that he didn’t have a shred of common decency running through his blue blood. My friends believed I had learned my lesson about love back then, but inside...deep inside I still searched constantly for this one true love of mine. And when I found him..oh, how beautiful he would be; he would be the one thing that could sweep me off my feet and kiss me tenderly upon the mouth with his perfect lips. He would sing me softly to sleep a lullaby he had written especially for me, and then if he saw I was overworking he would lay me down on a soft velvet couch and complete every task for me so I did not have to lift a hoof. We would talk endlessly about fashion, the arts and Canterlot; each word finishing with a simple note that expressed our love for one another.
Only the most romantic of venues would be the best place for us to go, the place where we could be together while he whispered sweet little nothings into my ear and I would lay in his arms while he stroked my mane with the utmost care and attention. Then he would pull me along to a romantic picnic spot on top of a hill to gaze at the stars in the night sky and that is when he would fall down onto his knees, kiss my hoof, and ask me the immortal question that would mean our bond would finally be completed. We would be married not long after and we would live happily ever after; just as in a fairy tale. I would be his Princess and he would be my knight in satin armour. It would all be so perfect.
I quite gave up on these fanciful ideas after my first attempt with a dream stallion. I had spent many nights after that dreadful disaster at the gala crying myself to sleep. I could not have imagined how wrong I had been about the young Prince’s nature towards me. It was a nightmare I was worried I would never wake up from; but the nightmare could not remain forever, I soon figured that someday he would arise in front of me: this lovely sight from my future. I could never give up on hoping really, and I was glad that I hadn’t.
Twilight had this nasty little habit of locking herself in the Ponyville Library for days without a word to her friends or even Princess Celestia. Spike, during these times, was the only creature that ever exited the buildings and even that was only to collect supplies for my hard-working lavender friend. Whatever she had been working on recently was most time consuming. She had spent most of her days inside of the Library and still hadn’t seemed to come close to her final goal. And nopony had any clues to what this final goal should be; even little Spike didn’t seem to know what she was aiming for but yet he still carried on moving around collecting all of her random equipment that she had compiled into a list. Spike was a lot more loyal to her than most ponies would ever give him credit for; it was very commendable in my view.
It was when I was having some beauty treatments and hair treatment at the spa that Spike walked in requesting a used comb from the salon; Twilight had requested this item specifically. It had taken a long time before I had finally managed to persuade the worried attendants that Twilight meant well in these actions and asked if they would kindly give her the comb since they no longer needed it. They still seemed unsure about the situation but reluctantly gave Spike the very one she had been brushing my hair with not too long ago.
I had no clue what Twilight could want with a used comb but I didn’t want to question her actions; I knew if I did it would be more trouble than it was worth. I suppose looking back I should have tried to be a bit more sceptical about her work. Maybe if I had I would have realised what was coming next, and when I saw the flashing lights shooting from the Library windows I would have gone to investigate further; but as it was I simply trotted back to my Boutique to begin work on my latest fashion line.
It was to be one of my most fabulous lines to date; a sight for your eyes and a spectacle to behold. The plans had already sketched themselves inside my fashion mind and the materials were waiting for me to stitch them together into something beautiful. Many of these new outfits would go to a new client in Las Pegasus but there was one special one I had a different idea for. If I were to do the impossible and make a dress so stunning, so lovely, so beautiful, then surely any self-respecting handsome Prince wouldn’t dare to take his eyes from me. I knew that if I accomplished this dress then he would appear miraculously before my eyes in a shimmer of golden light... Just like magic.
With these thoughts streaming through my head I quickly reached my house and began work on what I knew was going to be absolute perfection.
Meanwhile back at Twilight’s house something big was going on. And when I say big I mean the biggest thing in the whole of Equestria big; Luna Major big. I was not present at the event but I have been informed many times of the activities that were performed there.
Twilight stood over a large metal canister; watching bright rainbow coloured light dance around the room in a swaying fashion. The elements of harmony sat on the table next to her; wires clipped to their outer surfaces; there power leaking into the large box that Twilight was experimenting on. Every now and again Twilight would think before proceeding to write notes down upon a large notepad next to her. She was sure that if her calculations were correct then this canister could do wonderful things. After one last flip of a switch the waltzing rainbow seeped backwards into the box and the large cube began to glow.
Twilight yawned. She had been up many days and nights trying to get her new project up and running. She had not even managed to learn anything about friendship to report to the Princess; a task she usually completed with utmost diligence. Nothing was more important to her at the moment than completing this marvellous machine.
Looking down at the table she knew there was one last thing she had to do before she could go and take a long rest to recharge her brain cells. She carefully lifted up the comb that Spike had managed to get for her from the salon; it was to be one of the key parts of her experiment. She carefully slotted it into the area of the box it belonged. The light went out.
‘Ugh’ Twilight groaned to herself. This was not what was supposed to happen; she was sure that she had done every step right so why hadn’t it worked. It seemed so unfair that she had not managed to do what she had set out to accomplish that day. Spike wandered into the room, looking sleepily at the upset Twilight and grabbed hold of her hoof gently.
“Come on Twilight” he whispered to her “You’re too tired to do this anymore. Come and get some sleep. It will still be here when you wake up tomorrow.”
Twilight turned and looked at her scaly friend with his kindly emerald eyes and his snub snout. She had been worrying Spike terribly over the last few days, she knew she had, and it had been unfair on the baby dragon. He always worried dreadfully about Twilight when she was desperate for something to be finished, but he always meant well by her. She slowly nodded her head and allowed Spike to lead her gently by the hoof up the stairs and into her bed. Spike waited patiently until his friend finally managed to fall asleep, before wandering over to his basket and closing his eyes. The two did not notice anything else that happened during the night.
While the pony and dragon slept the box downstairs decided it was time for it to come alight again. The rainbows danced along the wires leading to the elements of harmony, shooting first into one; then into another, before finally settling on one specific piece. The purple jewel in the centre of the chosen element lit up in wilful abundance. A flash sparked across the room; willing every tiny bit of energy from the air into its power. There was a big crack and then a hoof step appeared upon the oak floor.
A shadow quickly got to its feet, walked over to the bookcase and gathered as many books from the shelves as it could carry. With the books in toe it strode to the front door, opened it silently and stole into the night air.
When Twilight and Spike awoke the next day they looked around their inner Library in dismay. The whole room was a mess of all proportions. Books were thrown onto the floor, the curtains were ripped and torn off their poles, and the box…Twilight’s precious box, was in shards upon the floor. A thief in the night.
I quite understood Twilights fascination with staying awake all night. I, myself, had been awake half of the night trying to finish a few of my new collection; if not all. In fact it had been the same night where the mysterious thief had made their presence in the Library. It had been a long night, and yet still I had quite a way to go with the outfits. I figured it must have been six in the morning before I actually trotted up to be and had some beauty rest; and even then I only got a couple hours of sleep. I had to be awake in order to both finish my suits and dresses, and put on some new make-up for the morning. Well, being as beautiful as I am takes a bit of effort you know.
I had begun work before I realised that I had in fact run out of one of my most important fabrics. This did not please me because it only meant that I would have to put my own dress on hold whilst I went down into the town to get the materials I needed. I love shopping as much as anypony, possibly more, but I so very badly wanted to finish my own Prince-magnet outfit and shopping would only be interference in this.
With a heavy heart I put on my backpack bag and trotted out of the door. The market was a hive of activity on that day, as it usually was. Ponies rushed to and fro, trying to find the products they needed and trying to haggle for the best deal they could get. The shopkeepers too were not against this bargaining for the best price because they had come off with a very good deal themselves on occasion; charging ponies much more than they should on meagre items like cherries.
I cantered over to the one stall I actually wanted to go to; the material stall. The shopkeeper, a young friendly mare, had become a great friend of mine over the years. She very much admired all of my creations and I very much liked to tell her about my latest ideas from the fashion world. We were used to seeing each other on a weekly basis; so it was not so hard to offer each other a smile as we joined one another at the stall.
Today she appeared to be chatting to a new customer. One I had never seen around here before; a colt no less. Emerald, the shopkeeper I mentioned beforehand, was talking away quite amiably with the new pony and in turn, the young colt, seemed to be enjoying her company; laughing away quite heartily every time she told a small little joke. He seemed quite nice and friendly as it were.
Emerald noticed me watching and turned to smile at me, as she always did when I came to the market. I felt more at ease about not breaking her conversation, so I moved closer to the table where she stood.
“Hello there Miss Rarity. Come for some new fabrics then?” she asked me with the same polite voice she used on all of her customers. The young colt next to me turned and looked towards me with the most contented look I had ever seen bless a pony’s face. He certainly seemed friendly enough to acknowledge.
To be honest the way he looked blew me away slightly. He had the most marvellous cheekbones, the most stunningly quaffed hair, and his sea-blue eyes could melt away every cold thought your heart possessed. He was indeed a very handsome colt. Even I had to admit he had a certain charm about him. Emerald saw my insistent staring at the distinguished pony.
“Oh Miss Rarity. This here is Elusive; he’s new in Ponyville” she explained to me with a cheerful countenance in her voice.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Rarity.” Elusive bowed and lifted my hoof to his mouth, kissing it gently with his tender lips. It was in that moment that I realised, straight away, I liked Elusive. In fact I more than liked him; I loved him with all of my heart. It seems strange but even though I had always dreamed about meeting the one and falling in love at first sight, I had never realised how quickly it would hit me when I did fall in love. How could I have fallen in love at first sight, so quickly? I did not know, but as cheesy as it sounds I did, and I was happy.
Emerald stared at us both with a knowledgeable grin spread on her face. She knew, oh yes she most certainly knew. Elusive had not yet let go of my hoof, and neither of us had left the eyes of the other at all. It felt like we were locked into each other’s gazes for eternity; though in reality it was only a minute or so before we snapped back into reality. Noting Emerald’s expression both of us blushed scarlet, realising that we had done an extremely foolish thing in front of the entire market.
“I suppose I should be on my way then” Elusive suggested. My heart almost crashed and burned; I was oddly disappointed that he should leave so soon. “However” he carried on “If I’m not being to forward as to ask Miss Rarity. I have some free time tonight and I was going to sample the food at our local delicatessen. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me?” I was speechless. For once in my life I could not find the words with which to answer. My heart fluttered in my chest, begging me to speak and say what I knew I wanted to say. Emerald, seeing I was having a spot of problems speaking at the moment, thankfully offered some help.
“Yes, she’d love to go with you tonight.” I looked over to her, thanking her with my eyes. She nodded and smiled at me. Elusive looked most pleased with the arrangement.
“Good. Then I shall pick you up tonight at seven. Where, pray tell, do you live?”
I pointed in the direction of Carousel Boutique and he beamed towards me.
“Then it’s a date” he told me, lifting up my hoof to kiss it again “Until then.” And with that he turned and walked away into the market, humming a soft happy little tune. I could barely hold my excitement; I just knew I had to finish my dress now, so that I could make a good impression on this lovely new colt. Emerald giggled to herself as she watched me quickly buy the fabric I needed and then running as fast as my legs could carry me through to my little ‘chateau’.
The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent hastily finishing my dress and preparing myself for the special event tonight. I’ve already mentioned to you how long it takes me to make myself beautiful in the morning; well, times that by about a thousand and that’s how long it takes me to prepare of any sort of formal gathering, and a date especially. After much hard work my dress was completed, and was as perfect as I had envisioned in my head. Now if only Elusive could love it everything would be as perfect as I had always imagined.
He arrived on the exact time that he had told me: seven precisely. I nimbly trotted down the stairs to him, butterflies flittering in my stomach as I made my first appearance in my new outfit. His mouth dropped as he saw me descend the stairs and he trotted forward to take hold of my hoof.
“Why Miss Rarity, was there ever such a rose that could smell as sweet as you.” I felt like a small filly, giggling as I did about what he had said about me. He liked it; he really liked it. And he was looking very dapper himself wearing a long tailed tux with a jewel flower attached to the front. I laid my head upon his shoulder as we cantered off to the restaurant in Ponyville. It was clear that Elusive had called ahead to the restaurant to reserve the most romantic spot there. ‘The one table were the moon would shine down upon us and the stars would perform their pirouettes around us’ as he told me. The staff seemed especially courteous towards us and prepared our food to the best of their abilities. I had never seen them work so hard for anypony ever.
“I came in this morning and offered them my assistance in repairing their torn suits and dresses” Elusive explained as the waiters and waitresses bustled around them “They were quite in disrepair some of them.” He smiled at me and my heart melted once again.
“You like fashion?” I couldn’t seem to hide my thrill of his like for the one thing I loved too
“Indeed. Fashion is like a jewel; it takes a bit of work to make it perfect but when you’re done it shines like the stars.” He offered me a bottle of the finest wine and poured me a glass. “Much like you yourself Miss Rarity.”
“Oh?” I questioned taking a sip of the drink.
“A star sent down from heaven.” My heart flipped. His words were pure poetry to my ears. Some may consider these lines corny or stupid, but to me they were the most beautiful things anypony could ever say to me. Elusive smiled at me with his pearly white teeth, staring at me with his deep sky blue eyes and we were gone. Both of us together in our perfect little world. Nopony else could disturb us in our special place and thus the night passed as if a dream.
He walked me back to my house after the dinner; asking me all sorts of questions about myself and all I had done. I in turn listened to his stories, but it seemed he did not have many to tell. He was an orphan, with hardly any money, who had to go around from place to place offering people help in return for kind gestures they would give him; such as the one at the restaurant. Every time he spoke his perfectly pitched notes would sing into my mind like an orchestra’s concerto. It was beautiful.
He led me to my door and I walked in, saying that he could come in for a while if he really wanted to.
“No, I would not want to impose on you Miss Rarity. I am sure you would like some rest.” Slowly he picked the jewel flower off of his suit and tucked it into the front of my dress. “Perfect. As are you. I do hope that you will permit us to doing this again.”
“Another date?” My heart pumped against my chest and my breath fell silent.
“It would be the greatest pleasure in Equestria if you would.”
“I-I-I would love to.” I could barely find the words to answer him. He bowed to me slowly, kissing me on the hoof as he did.
“Tomorrow then. Shall we say a stroll around Ponyville?”
“Oh yes.”
“Until then.” He moved slowly away from the door and began to trot down the driveway. Once at the bottom he turned and shouted into the air:
“I love you Miss Rarity.”
I could find no answer, and before I knew it he had gone…Until tomorrow.
I was ecstatic, delighted, and a whole mix of emotions that made me feel more content with my life than I had ever felt before. I had had many challenging times both with my business and my position as the element of generosity; but now everything felt as it should be. Finally some other pony would care for me, just as I had always wished. I’m sure many ponies would find this whole account of my infatuation as rather cliché in a way, but I am merely describing it the way I felt it, and the truth is that whenever I was around Elusive my heart exploded twice.
Whenever another pony came around to visit me; such as my friends did the next morning, it took all of my willpower to not just burst into song and tell them all about my wonderful special somepony and how amazing he really was to me. Sadly even if I had told them at the time they would not have noticed; they were too intense about the crisis Twilight had informed them of.
It seemed that there had been a book thief at the Library a few nights ago and my five friends were gathering together to hunt down the criminal. A fully detailed account had been messaged to Princess Celestia and the local police but none of my friends were satisfied that this was going to help in any way, so all had gathered to join a group Pinkie had named ‘P.I.E’ (Ponies In Espionage). I could not see how a group of mares was going to help catch a common criminal but it was true that we had solved many Equestrian problems over our time together; perhaps we could do something about it. After all stealing was not harmonious in any way, and we had to make sure that harmony was to rein over everything else.
“So are you in?” Rainbow Dash asked me very impatiently. They had only been there a matter of minutes and it had not taken Rainbow to get to the point, such was in her brutish Pegasus nature. The others all stared at me expectantly. I didn’t quite know what to say; I supposed I had a bit of time before Elusive was coming to pick me up again…but I had wanted to prepare for my second date. I needed to look as gorgeous today as I did last night or Elusive might not like me much anymore. He was a fashion pony after all; he would not approve if I did not look my best.
“Well Rarity. Are you joining in the P.I.E. or not?” Pinkie Pie, with all her youthful abundance, seemed to be anxious waiting so long for an answer. I stared around at the five ponies who I had always considered so close to me. Was this is? I had to choose between my long term best friends and the pony I thought I loved? It seemed so wrong in some ways, and was not a factor I ever figured what come into my dream relationship.
The hands on my clock struck eleven. I had about an hour before I considered Elusive would come to my door for our afternoon saunter. He had sent me a note by post this morning expressing his thoughts last night, and telling me that he was bringing along a picnic at lunch time for our romantic canter across the town and its outskirts. I could technically go with my friends for at least twenty minutes before coming back and preparing myself. I slowly nodded my head and Pinkie bounced up and down in glee. She grabbed hold of my hoof and I found myself being pulled through the door and out into the road.
You may be wondering by now why I had neglected to just tell my friends that I had found Elusive and we were to go out that day, so I couldn’t go with them on their expedition across Ponyville; but the truth is I was too scared to tell them. It’s not that I worried that they wouldn’t like him, because nopony couldn’t like my Elusive, but that I was worried that if anything went wrong in our relationship I wouldn’t want my friends pestering me about it. I wouldn’t want to admit to anything going wrong with us. And so I trotted around Ponyville searching without even a whisper of what was going on in my life at the minute. I realise now that I should have figured that this secret would not have held long; my friends were far too astute and my love was far too persistent. It was always going to come to this.
“Rarity.” A call came up through the town centre, alerting my friends to the sight in front of them. A white coated, violet maned colt rushed over to where we were all stood. I blushed and my head fell down as I realised Elusive was coming over to me for our date…and I was not wearing an outfit or much make-up. I had been caught at my most ugly.
“Why Miss Rarity, the sky could not look as blue as you.” Elusive stopped; staring at me. “Is something wrong?” He looked kindly at me as I peered to the floor in discomfort. My friends stood aghast, watching the show that was playing in front of them. They could not fathom what was happening here.
“It’s-It’s-It’s” I stuttered “I’m not ready to see you yet. I’m not dressed for our date.” I must admit that I did feel ashamed at my lack of costume for our special time together, and there was he looking as amazing as the time I first met him; carrying a picnic basket on his back, just for us.
“Whatever are you talking about Miss Rarity” his soft voice uttered “You look as beautiful as the day I first fell for you. A rose among the thorns.” His look showed sincerity, he truly seemed to speak the truth of his thoughts, though I could not help but feel that he was saving my feelings by speaking like this. Our world grew around as again and everything else seemed to drift away. There was no worries, no complications; there was only our love and our care for one another. It took an exclamation from Applejack to alert us back to our senses.
“And who in the hay would you be?” Elusive and I looked around to the varying facial expressions of the ponies that had gathered around us. Everypony a look of confusion; Rainbow a look of contempt. Elusive certainly knew how to charm ponies though and got us out of a sticky situation with his wise use of words.
“I could ask the same question of you outstanding mares.” My friends looked slightly taken back at this. “You are friends of the lovely Miss Rarity of whom my heart has eloped?” He held my hoof in his, guarding me against any of the witty remarks the other ponies would choose to make. It was lucky that Rainbow was, for once, not the first pony in the crowd to speak or we would have most likely been cut to shreds with her tongue. Twilight was the first one to speak.
“Yes, we’re friends of Rarity, and who would you be?” It was a decent enough question to want to know the answer of. They were my friends after all, and only had my best interests at heart. I chose to speak this time in the hope that they would not reject my explanation at all.
“Girls-this is-this is Elusive.” I turned to him and felt his supporting gaze. It did not feel so hard to say anymore. “The pony that I have given my heart to.” I could sense the feeling of surprise in the air but all that mattered is that I had said it, and Elusive had his word to add to mine.
“And this fair maiden- this jewel of a Princess, is the pony with which my heart is worn.” I turned to my friends, beseeching them to understand what this meant and to not let this go between us in any way. They were my friends and they always would be. I could never have believed it, but my friends genuinely seemed pleased for me. There was no misery or jealousy as I had expected; they were as happy as I was about the whole affair. Twilight noted that Elusive had mentioned a date we were to go on today, and noticed the picnic that my love was carrying around with him.
“You can go now if you want Rarity. We’ll keep looking.”
I could have never thanked Twilight more for saying that. It did not take much persuasion for me to head off with Elusive for a very special day together…and what a day it was. A most wonderful day indeed. It was sad when it had to end after dark; I again offered the option of his coming into the boutique but still he said that imposing was not something that he liked to do. He would let me get some rest and then we would meet up again the next day…and the next day…and the next day.
Day after day we spent together; filling our heads with stories that we had collected from one another and poetic words we whispered to show how good we felt about the position we were in. Elusive had quickly made friends with Everypony in town. Even Rainbow and Spike, who had at first objected to the idea of making friends with him, had quickly fallen into friendship with him. Spike was touchy about the idea that me and Elusive were together, but he could not deny the fact that I was happy and a quick peck on the cheek made him come to the conclusion that it was for the best.
Sweetie Belle, my little sister, now loved Elusive as though he was her own brother. He spent countless time and energy showing her and her friends how to do many different activities and coming up with new ways in which they could find their cutie marks. This was touching because he knew as well as I did what the talents of these fillies really were, and yet he still spent time trying to lead them in the right direction; telling Sweetie what a nice voice she had, clapping hard for Scootaloo when she rode on her scooter, and congratulating Apple Bloom on fixing the table that he himself could not fix (though he could have fixed it himself if he had wanted). Everypony loved Elusive…and nopony more than me.
The days simply flew by and before we knew it we had been together for a week and a half. Elusive was planning something for our two weeks anniversary and he had yet to tell me what it was. I hadn’t had much time in the week to help my friends with their task of finding the thief but I was sure they were getting on fine without me.
And in fact, they were. Twilight had been trying to sort her shelves again, putting them in a new order since the stolen books had messed the old order up, when the box she had left on the table began to brightly glow once more. She was ecstatic with seeing it. She quickly stopped what she was doing and trotted over to it. That was when she noticed it. The box was lighting arrows up all over its surface. An arrow pointing in a certain direction. She took up the box and followed wherever it should lead her.
It was a dark night and the moon was shining outside my window. I had spent so long with Elusive recently that I had been neglecting my work on my new collection; so I was spending a bit of the night sewing. I had taken a break and was staring up at the night sky with stars in my eyes. A sound came up to my ears from below and I swung open the window to see what was happening. Was there some night festival going on in the square? A soothing voice floated up to my ears. I scanned the area; the voice seemed to be directly below me.
“Is somepony there?” I asked, worried about feeling silly if no answer were to come back and my ears had been deceiving me. I needed not worry.
“It’s me my love.” Elusive sprang out from behind the tree at the foot of my window looking up at me with his charming smile. He seemed to be carrying something on his back, but I could not tell what it was from my position up high.
“Elusive? Are you okay. You’re not hurt are you?” I was very concerned about him. Elusive never came to my house at night, always saying that he didn’t want to let me lose any sleep; so I somehow thought that the only reason he would come to me at this time is if he was in trouble of some sort.
“No, I’m not hurt.” I gave a sigh of relief. “I was wondering if a very special pony would care to accompany me on a special moonlit walk.” I smiled to him, he was so strange in his constant list of growing activities, but it was an offer I could not bear to refuse.
"I will. Just let me come down and let you in and then I can get ready.” I made to go downstairs and open the door for him to come in out of the cold.
“No, you don’t have to do that” he stated “I shall come to you.” He hastily trotted up to the tree and clambered up the trunk with his hooves. He rested himself on the branch before shuffling along it, just avoiding a swipe from Opal’s paw as he did, and leaping onto my balcony with a swift kick of his legs. And then there he was, stood right in front of me…stood right beside me. As beautiful a colt as there could ever be. He reached backwards into his bag, taking out a rose and passing it over to me with a slow move.
“For you my sweet. A rose for a rose.” I smiled again and took it in my hoof. I moved off slightly to my make-up wardrobe and closet; picking the best items for our little walk. Elusive watched me with admiration in his eyes, sitting down on the edge of my bed as nimbly as possible. He watched me as if he was watching an actress upon the stage, not moving his eyes from me even once. I searched around the room for a place I could change into my things.
“Excuse me, I’m being rude” he said “I will leave the room while you change.” He moved over and kissed my hoof. “I know that when you come out you will look as beautiful as always.” He carefully opened the door and went outside. My filly side came again and I found myself doing the foolish giggle I always do when I’m pleased. Suffice to say I dressed a lot quicker on that day than I had ever dressed before; I could not keep my very special coltfriend waiting.
We wandered off into the night time air, stopping and looking at every flower on the way. We loved flowers; they were so pretty dancing in the night. Eventually we reached the hill with which many stargazing opportunities took place (this was one of Twilight’s favourite places to come on a night). Up onto the top of the hill we went. Elusive covered my eyes with his hoofs leading my from behind to where he was taking me. His hooves removed I could see what he had been planning for our anniversary finally.
A picnic blanket lay flat on the ground; a lit candle flickering its flames in the darkness, and two glasses of wine carefully poured into fine crystal glasses. Elusive brightened his horn and began playing the plant life as an instrument; making a slow song play out over the grass. It was all so perfect; all so sweet and nice.
“It’s-It’s-It’s so beautiful” I stammered. I turned to the colt that had put all of this together for me.
“Just like you.” He beamed at me, pleased that I seemed happy with all he had done for me. It was hard not to be happy when the pony you loved did everything for you; always making you feel like you were the best thing in the whole entire Equestria.
He gently pulled me by the hoof and sat me down on the blanket, sitting down next to me as he did. He placed his bag onto the floor next to him and opened up the zip. From inside he pulled out a small little guitar and began strumming it.
“I thought we’d like a bit of music to accompany our evening together.” I watched him as he playfully strummed a tune on his guitar and sang to me in his soft-spoken voice.
“If there ever was a time where I ever feel sad.
I just look for your face and it makes my life better.
And if the world seems evil and bad,
I just hold your hoof and it makes my life better
Because you’re my very special pony forever.
My SPF, you are my SPF,
And I love you more and more every single day.
‘Cause you’re my SPF, my SPF
And I’ll be by your side come what may.
I used to feel bad, I used to cry.
But now I only need you to make the sun shine.
And I used to be alone, nowhere to go
But then you came and brightened my day.
I just hold your hoof and it makes my life better
Because you’re my very special pony forever.
My SPF, you are my SPF
And I love you more and more every single day.
‘Cause you’re my SPF, my S—P—F---
And I’ll always be there for you…come what may.”
His mouth reached out over the blanket and mine moved closer to his. Our lips interlocked and we were lost to Equestria; our eyes closed, locked in our blissful moment together. We seemed to be holding onto each other forever and neither of us wanted to let go. Even breathing was useless because it would mean that our lips would have to separate; a thing we did not want to do at the moment. We stayed there, silent, holding onto one another, and loving every minute of it.
If only Twilight and Spike hadn’t shown up at that moment everything would have been fine for much longer, but they did and Elusive and I quickly let go of one another to look round to the new arrivals. Both of them had quite clearly witnessed our long kiss, and Spike did not seem happy about it. He crossed his arms and turned to Twilight. She moved closer to our picnic blanket, staring at us. No…not staring at ‘us’, staring at Elusive. I peered round trying to figure out why Twilight looked so shocked and jumped to my hooves.
A faint glow had appeared around Elusive; a rainbow dancing around his body as if he was the next victim of a colourful crime. I had no idea what could be happening…and neither had Elusive by the look he was giving us. He looked towards his brightly lit hooves and watched them turn into light in front of him. His whole body evaporated in front of our eyes and before we even had time to save him…he had disappeared.
Tears shot down my eyes and I crumpled onto my knees in sobs. Where was Elusive? Where was my coltfriend? It was so unfair. Spike came over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, forgiving me for whatever problem he had had with us earlier. It had to be Twilight’s fault…it was magic that had done it. Magic had made my coltfriend leave me. Twilight was the only pony skilled enough to get rid of him. She must have done it for Spike. Spike had told her to do it. That’s right. I blush now when I remember how I yelled at Twilight back then; how I ridiculed both of my friends for doing something they had not done. Twilight bluntly denied having got rid of him; I should have believed her, but at that point I was so distraught I just couldn’t. Tears dropped down my face as I shot off down the hill, knocking my friends to the floor, and running to barricade myself up in the Boutique.
Two days. Two days I constantly kept myself locked up in there. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, and I certainly couldn’t think about my outfits. Everything I did reminded me of us, and the short time was had spent together. My friends came knocking every hour to see if they could talk to me, except Twilight who seemed not to care, and every hour I denied them entry and friendship. Looking back at when I thought I would have to choose between him and my friends; at present I would have said him…I only wanted him back by my side.
My sister, my parents, the Mayor: none of them could persuade me that I had to come outside to see other ponies; to make myself feel better and not lock myself away. I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t bear to walk around knowing that Elusive would never be outside to cherish me ever again. All of my dreams had vanished so quickly before my eyes. It was ten times worse than the gala incident; I actually knew that this had been my dream colt and now-I could never have him again.
I was upstairs when a loud bang came from in my room downstairs. I pranced onto my feet, storming down the stairs in my slippers and satin dressing gown; my hair a shambles and my make-up teary and ruined. It wouldn’t matter if it was him; if he had come back to me he wouldn’t care about what I looked like. We would simply be happy to be back in each other’s hooves once more-and we would never let go.
I was disappointed when I reached the bottom and saw Twilight standing in my hall instead. She held a bag upon her back, and that stupid box that had taken Elusive in her hooves. She placed the box and the bag onto the floor and looked up to me anxiously.
“Rarity” she gabbled “I have a big apology to make.”
“What?” I could not hide the angry note in my voice. “So you did steal my coltfriend with your nasty little magic.” Twilight looked taken aback at the scorn she had heard come from me. She had never heard me speak so viciously to anypony before; even I myself had never witnessed myself being so harsh. I was speaking without any proof or actual evidence, but back then I didn’t think of it as that. I couldn’t think straight anymore. Twilight gulped.
“N-N-No” she murmured “I have something else to tell you.” She paused briefly, seeing my gaze on her, before finishing her sentence. “It’s…about Elusive.” My interest rose and I cantered down the steps to hear what she had to say. She collected up the box and showed it to me. I scoffed. What had that silly cube got to do with my treasure: Elusive? This whole charade was ridiculous.
“You see a couple of weeks ago I started work on this machine. It was supposed to be able to heal a pony’s cuts and wounds; it doesn’t require unicorn magic.” I could not imagine what this had to do with anything. She still rattled on. “Well, it didn’t work and I quite gave up thinking that it would, but…It turns out it did work, just not in the way I had planned.” She came closer to me, trying to hold my hoof but I sharply pulled it away from her. She sighed. “The comb I used from the spa. It seemed it still had a minute lock of hair on it. Your hair Rarity. So when the machine tried to ‘heal’ the hair it took upon itself to repair the pony as well.” I could not understand what she was talking about; either that or I just didn’t want to understand because I did not want to accept the truth. “Rarity” she said to me “Elusive…was you. He was a colt born from your DNA. Somehow when your hair mixed with the box it created a colt version of you…who thought he had a past when in fact he didn’t.”
She reached downwards towards the bag she had been carrying; it was only then that I realised that it was not her bag; it belonged to Elusive. She poured its contents onto the floor around us and I found myself staring at a pile of different books. The very books that had been stolen from the Library a few weeks before.
“He got these from my Library the day he came alive. Every story he’s told you about his life comes from here Rarity. He read the books and assimilated it into his memories. He wasn’t real.”
I couldn’t believe it. Yet I believed Twilight. She was smart…and I had begun to see things a lot clearer than I had been the last two days. It was all true…my dream colt had been—myself? It seemed so unreal and strange. How could I have fallen for myself? It made me sound so vain and shallow, but truly I believed that he had been another colt and I had loved him for that. How could I have been duped so badly?
Twilight tapped me on the shoulder.
“I don’t know if it’s the right time but…I found this posted through your letterbox when I came in.” She passed me an envelope which seemed to have the vague sent of rose petals. I gave her a teary smile and she patted me on the back. “Promise you’ll feel better later and come out again.” I nodded, clasping the note to my chest. Twilight made her exit and I sauntered into the sitting room and sat down on one of my comfiest chairs. I read the note and swooned as each word made my beam bigger and bigger. My heart felt whole again by the end. Elusive would have wanted me to carry on with my life; he wouldn’t want to impose on me and make my only thoughts misery. I smiled and walked up the stairs to put on my make-up and do my hair. I needed to get out again. Perhaps Elusive was real…perhaps my one true love was out there waiting for me...
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A small scaly head peered through the bush at the front of Carousel Boutique, watching Rarity read her letter through the window. He saw her smile and his heart beat fast beneath his chest. She was happy; that was good. He had hoped the letter would make her feel better; he had penned the letter by hand in the hope that it would. He had even chosen his words quite carefully.
Dear Miss Rarity he had wrote it seems that we are parted every night when the stars grace our sky. The stars with which your very eyes have gained their stare and there gleam. I am extremely lucky every time you grace me with your presence by my side, and yet I feel somewhat like I am imposing on you when you do. I feel dreadful that you should be stuck with me when there are plenty of over ponies wandering around the streets, but I am pleased that you are so beautiful that other ponies can see it as clearly as I can. So, my Rarity, my lovely rose among the thorns, I will cherish you no matter how our paths bend. Even if our lives end up completely separate to what we have hoped I will always be there, and I will always love you.
Forever yours, Your Truest Love.
Oh yes, that letter had taken Spike a long time to pen, but it had been worth it to see the contented smile on her face. He had written what he truly felt about her; it was about time he finally let her know how he felt, especially now that she thought all love was lost. She would always be his truest love, no matter if she loved him in return. He turned merrily, singing a happy tune as he skipped down the driveway.
“I just hold your hoof and it makes my life better
Because you’re my very special pony forever.
My SPF, you are my SPF,
And I love you more and more every single day.
‘Cause you’re my SPF, my SPF
And I’ll be by your side come what may.”